


What We Have to Work With

by Zemmiphobia



Category: Up (2009)
Genre: Divorce, Families of Choice, Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-15
Updated: 2014-04-15
Packaged: 2018-01-19 11:42:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1468189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zemmiphobia/pseuds/Zemmiphobia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Russell is a very lucky kid. A short look at the time between Carl and Russell going home and Russell receiving the Ellie Badge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What We Have to Work With

Carl stood back as Russell rushed forward into his mother’s arms. The young woman, dark circles under her eyes, pulled the boy close and cried into his hair. Russell let her, more intent on telling his amazing story before she could protest. Carl wasn’t sure how this was going to fall out. On the one hand, it had been entirely accidental that Russell had been caught on his porch. On the other, he was an old man with a history of assault who had effectively kidnapped a child for three days. He wasn’t sure even he would believe the truth. He could see her eyes getting wider and wider as Russell talked, though the scout was sticking to their plan to downplay the details. He waited until the story started winding down before coughing politely.  
“Ms. Nagai, I’m Carl Fredricksen.” He held out a hand and felt a bit of hope as she returned the gesture. “I apologize for the worry I’ve caused you. If there had been any way to get a hold of you sooner, I assure you we would have.”  
“I-Yes, I do. Maybe we should sit?” She glanced at the small living room and gestured for Carl to take the armchair. When she realized he was waiting for her to sit first, she lowered herself onto the couch and pulled Russell against her side. Russell flashed him a not so subtle thumbs up and bounced in place. Carl took a minute to settle himself, content to wait for her to gather her thoughts.  
“I think,” She asked after a moment, looking out the window at the Spirit of Adventure parked above the apartment complex, “that I would like to hear your side of the story, Mr. Fredricksen, and why exactly I shouldn’t be calling the police.” Carl ignored Russell’s gasp of dismay, running a hand against his leg.  
“I wouldn’t blame you if you did.” He began softly. “I won’t deny that I’ve caused you a lot of grief. All I can say in my defense is that I never intended to take your son and that I planned on returning as soon as I discovered him. If it hadn’t been for the storm, we would have been back within the hour.” He launched into an edited version of the trip, leaving out Kevin and Muntz. He couldn’t prove the tale and Kevin would be safer without outsider coming to look for her. She was silent through the tale, listening intently as she ran her fingers through Russell’s hair. When Carl finally reached the end of the story, she stared out the window for a long time. The silence was eventually broken by Russell, who tugged lightly on his mother’s shirt.  
“Mom, I know I worried you. I’m sorry I couldn’t call, or take the bus, or write you a letter, though I thought maybe I could send you a message in bottle if we got close enough to the ocean. Ocean currents are pretty fast! Uh, anyways, I’m sorry I worried you but Mr. Fredricksen is really nice and he was really cool! He saved my life like a billion times and…” He looked at his lap, mumbling, “he listens to me.”  
Carl could feel tears pricking at his eyes and a glance at Ms. Nagai revealed she was suffering the same. She pulled her son into her arms with a smile and rocked him before pulled back.  
“I love you so much Russell. You are grounded for a week.” She smiled at Carl over the top of Russell’s loud protests. “I think you’re going to have to call me Amanda.”  
“Only if you call me Carl.” He replied instantly, smiling widely.  
“Thank you for bring him back, Carl.”

000

If there was something she felt she could never forgive, it was Peter’s treatment of Russell. She knew their marriage had ended painfully. It had been bloodless, compared to some of the horror stories her friends had gone through, but it seemed that even mutual divorces could have victims. Namely, eight year old victims who thought the sun rose and set on their father who couldn’t be bothered to call more than once a month. No one had said anything, but Amanda strongly suspected it had more to do with the little girl Phyllis was expecting than a busy work schedule.  
Sitting in the auditorium, she watched the other parents in the room as Russell chatted with his friend, Bobby. It was mostly fathers with a few mothers, happy, whole families with happy whole children. Sometimes it bothered her that she was the only single mother in troop 54 but it wasn’t something she could change. It had certainly never seemed to bother Russell, even after Peter had started skipping out on promises. He just worked on each badge with his usual enthusiasm, seeming to have boundless energy no matter how long it took. Amanda felt her chest swell with pride and ruffled his windblown hair despite his embarrassed squeak. He glanced at her uncertainly but seeing her smile, jumped back into his retelling of that morning’s mishap with the leaf blower.  
Amanda glanced around the room again. Carl was nowhere to be seen and the boys would have to line up soon. She didn’t think he would miss such an important event, not after having to listen to Russell chatter about it for the last month, but he didn’t exactly live a routine life. Anything could happen from bad weather to a problem with parking. Amanda didn’t want to see the look on Russell’s face if another role model failed to support him. The scout master begin role call and Russell flew from her side like an arrow, his mouth still sending off a stream of words only another sugar high adolescent could hope to understand.  
One boy, then two, and it was Russell’s turn, standing painfully alone on the stage. Amanda bit her lip, almost ready to jump up and stand behind him, policy be damned, when she saw Carl slip up the stairs. She watched him accept the badge, both totally focused on their conversation. Perhaps Peter would never be the father Russell needed, but perhaps it didn’t matter. All that mattered was there was something willing to put the sparkle back in Russell’s eyes. She could live with that.


End file.
